1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an information processing unit, system, remote control method, and storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a networked KVM (Keyboard-Video-Mouse) device has been employed for switching between multiple servers on a network. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for operating multiple servers with the use of conventional networked KVM devices.
Referring to FIG. 1, a system 20 has a console PC 1, networked KVM devices 2 and 3, servers 4 through 9, a keyboard 10, a pointing device 11, and a communication device 12. One console PC 1 is connected to the networked KVM devices 2 and 3 via a network 13. The servers 4, 5, and 6 are connected to the networked KVM device 2. The servers 7, 8, and 9 are connected to the networked KVM device 3.
The keyboard 10 and the pointing device 11 are connected to the console PC 1, as input devices. IP addresses are assigned to the networked KVM devices 2 and 3 respectively. The console PC 1 communicates with one of the networked KVM devices 2 and 3 across the network by using protocols such as TCP/IP or the like, and selects one of the servers 4 through 9 for the server to be operated by the console PC 1 based on a specific select operation.
A description will be given of the internal configuration of the console PC 1 as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows an internal configuration of the conventional console PC 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the console PC 1 includes an operating system 30 (hereinafter simply referred to as OS) and an application 40. Hereinafter, the same components and configurations as those of FIG. 1 have the same reference numerals and a detailed explanation will be omitted. Application 40 has a key code receiving unit 41, a pointing device data receiving unit 42, a server communication unit 43, and a memory 44.
When one of the keyboard 10 and the pointing device 11 is manipulated, the key code receiving unit 41 running on the application 40 obtains a key code outputted from the keyboard 10 or pointing device data outputted from the pointing device 11 through the OS 30, and stores in the memory 44. The server communication unit 43 reads out the key code or the pointing device data from the memory 44, and sends the key code or the data to the networked KVM devices 2 or 3, by using TCP/IP protocols. The selected server from the servers 4 through 9 is connected to one of the networked KVM devices 2 and 3. The networked KVM devices 2 or 3 receives the data, and sends the key code outputted from the keyboard 10 or the pointing device data outputted from the pointing device 11 to the selected server. Thus, the selected server can be operated from the PC 1. Next, a description will be given of a conventional networked KVM device.
A networked KVM device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-344189 enables to communicate between a workstation and a server, after a given server is connected to the network, based on the server select operation from the workstation. Thus, multiple computers can be operated by other computers remotely.
However, the key code outputted from the keyboard 10 that is connected to the console PC 1 is obtained through the application 40 running in a user mode. If there is another application that is monitoring any key input on the console PC 1, said another application becomes active while the application 40 is monitoring the key input and carrying out an operation by remote control. As a result, there arises a problem in that the application 40 is not active any longer, and the key code or the pointing device data is not sent to the selected server.
Besides, there are applications having button GUIs (Graphical User Interface) or the like that send special keys to the selected server. However, in the case where the special key is sent with the use of the button GUI, it is required to input with the use of a mouse, which is not an ordinary key operation. As a result, there is a problem in that it is difficult to perform a continuous inputting operation with a keyboard. Further, more buttons or the like are required on the GUI for the application, as the number of special keys to be sent to the server increases.